Minnesota Vikings’ defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd undergoes knee surgery
The Minnesota Vikings have been hit with some notable injuries, and now defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd will miss some time after knee surgery.
Injuries have been a big part of the early season story for the Minnesota Vikings. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (knee) went down with a major knee/ leg injury before Week 1, and running back Adrian Peterson (knee) and left tackle Matt Kalil (hip) are both potentially out for the season.
Defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd played just 25 snaps in Week 1, then missed last week’s win over the Green Bay Packers with a knee injury. Now, the 2013 first-round pick is slated to miss some more time.
Andrew Krammer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune offered a quick correction about which knee Floyd had surgery on.
The operation was done to Floyd's right knee, not left. So he's undergone cleanups on both knees in past year.
— Andrew Krammer (@Andrew_Krammer) September 22, 2016
Vikings’ head coach Mike Zimmer was notably indifferent when the media asked about Floyd last week, saying “I’m kind of used to it” regarding his level of surprise about Floyd being injured. On Thursday, and Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press offered this nugget from Zimmer.
#Vikings coach Mike Zimmer on Sharrif Floyd: “He’s played (25) plays this year. He hasn’t played, he’s kind of out of sight, out of mind’’
— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) September 22, 2016
Floyd played all 16 games with one start as a rookie in 2013, and he started 23 games over the 2014 and 2015 seasons. But he also missed five games and parts of multiple others over that span, and Floyd has battled left knee and left foot issues while adding a reported ankle issue that kept him of OTAs this year.
As could be expected based on his public comments, Zimmer avoided placing a timetable on Floyd’s return. But in longer form, Krammer notes Floyd missed most of four games after a similar procedure on his left knee last year.
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Tom Johnson and Shamar Stephen should split time alongside Linval Joseph in Floyd’s place. Losing a piece of defensive line depth is not ideal, but Floyd’s injury absence is not on the same level of importance as Bridgewater, Peterson or even Kalil. Zimmer clearly can do without Floyd, and the Vikings’ defense will do the same without a hitch.